Pіckіng Cоlυmbіnеs

At 11:30am on April 20, 1999, two young men, dressed in long black trenchcoats approached the parking lot of Cоlυmbіnе Hіgh School in Littleton, Colorado. They giggled and hooted with glee as they pulled out guns and began firing into the bodies and faces of their fellow students. They entered the school at lunch time, when most of the students were in either the cafeteria or the library, both near the rear entrance to the school parking lot. They knew what they were going to do. They were going to kill people, certain people. But who?

When it was over 13 people were dead, 10 others critically wounded, and 13 injured. The gunmen had killed themselves.

It seems everyone has their own theory about why schoolyard massacres occur in our culture, and why they seem to be on the rise. But all of those quoted in the media have blamed all the wrong things, things that have been around much longer than this incident or those like it and so couldn't be the cause: tv, parents, video games, guns, schools, society, brain chemistry, pollution, etc. Even the so-called intellectuals on the Lаrry Kіng show, Ed Brаdlеy and Jеrry Spеncе, postulated a meaningless theory. They claimed violence is increasing locally because it's increasing globally which tells us nothing. The question is: why?

After listening to all of the theories on schoolyard violence and violence in general I am left with one overall impression - that as much as we clamour for an answer, we don't really want to find one. Perhaps because of what the kind of horror at Cоlυmbіnе Hіgh School says about us.

I, for one, am not afraid to look, and have discovered that there are really only 2 kinds of people who play a role in such seeming senselessness as occurred this past week in Littleton. There are the value-oriented who work towards the achievement of their values here on earth, and then there are the anti-value-oriented who try to destroy those values and those who pursue them.

In fact, looking at things in terms of value and anti-value allows us to explain all human behaviour.

But to understand value vs anti-value you first have to understand philosophically what is a value and what is not.

A value is something which is good for human life. A non-value is something destructive to it.

Some examples of anti-value philosophies, philosophies which are destructive of human life, are:

In politics: Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Feminism, Thе Unіtеd Nations, or any other form of collectivism or belief that a group - any group - of people has the right to take away the rights of any individual.

In morality: Altruism, Egalitarianism, Environmentalism, tolerance, or any other form of self-sacrifice.

In epistomology: mysticism, religion, belief in a collective brain or consciousness, faith, or any other kind of unthinking irrationality.

In metaphysics - Nihilism, Cynicism, Existentialism, or any other form of belief in a supernatural or an unknowable and malevolent universe.

In art: non-representation, de-constructivism or any other movement which attempts to depict anything and everything except values.

Most of these doctrines are on the curriculum of your local high school, and have been for years.

And look at what we are teaching our kids outside of school:

Rоsіе O'Donnell and Oprаh Wіnfrеy, hosts of the two most popular daytime talkshows are advocating 'tolerance' and 'forgiveness' in the wake of such intolerable and unforgivable murders.

Journalists compare the violence in Littleton to that in Kosovo, purposely blurring the difference between initiating violence and retaliatory force, thus making all violence seem bad, or good, regardless of context.

The two gunmen, Erіc Hаrrіs and Dylаn Klеbоld, were previously arrested for stealing a car, but were put in a Fastrack-to-Normalcy or similar program which wiped out their criminal records and put them back into society after performing only 42 hours of community service. (Isn't car theft a felony which warrants a serious jail term? None of this would have happened if these kids had been in prison where they belonged!)

Prеsіdеnt Bіll Clinton is getting all chummy and giving away cutting edge military technology to China, a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world, including Tіаnеmmаn Sqυаrе in which a large number of students were brutally killed by the Communist government for involvement in a peaceful demonstration.

Klebold's mother has worked in the Colorado community-college system for years, helping disabled students gain access to education. (Why was she not helping her own son?)

One of the Trеnchcоаt Mаfіа's slogans was "Insanity is healthy".

And so on.

On the other hand, here are some pro-value philosophies, such as are condusive to human life:

In politics - capitalism or any other system which makes protecting individual rights the government's highest priority and only purpose.
In morality - individualism or any other philosophy which says a man's life is his own and the good is to live it.
In art - Idealism (invented by me) or any other movement which depicts values.
In epistomology - reason, logic, and any science dedicated to discovering reality.
In metaphysics - the concept of reality, the logical consistency of nature and the primary goodness of Man.

To my knowledge, none of these philosophies are being taught in our schools or in the popular media. In fact, the exact opposites are.

And look at the result: Young men barely into their teens are left with no real values, nothing but a desire for an end to life itself. They want to destroy themselves. They do so because they hate the world and everyone in it and see no prospects for themselves and no possible meaning to life in the future.

So they choose to commit suicide. But they do not quietly kill themselves as anyone with integrity would. They resent being brought to this state, so instead they decide to take as many of those responsible with them as possible.

And whom do they take?

It's hard to know for sure why any one individual was killed, but read the list of victims for yourself and see if you don't agree that there is a definite pattern. It seems to me that the people killed were those who most represented values or else demonstrated a loyalty to their values, objective or otherwise.

Here's a few profiles of the victims:

Lаυrеn Tоwnsеnd, 18, a senior and captain of the girls' varsity volleyball team, a member of the Nаtіоnаl Hоnоr Society, and a candidate for valedictorian of her graduating class.

William "Dave" Sanders, a computer and business teacher for 24 years and coach of the girls' basketball and softball teams. Described as the most beloved teacher on campus. He was shot while trying to direct students to safety.

Cаssіе Bеrnаll, 17, a born-again Christian who was shot dead for continuing to pray even when threatened with death.

Isаіаh Shоеls, 18, a class clown who wanted to be a comedian. He was shot because he was black, which, to the gunmen, meant he was a good athlete.

And on it goes.

Anti-value is what we are teaching our modern children, both inside and outside of schools.

And the horrifying lesson of Cоlυmbіnе Hіgh, and the incidents like it, which we're all refusing to learn, is that, unfortunately, a few of our children are learning.

To read more about the shootings in Littleton on ABCNews.com click here.